It’s that time of year again. The particular season of the year when I’m prone to remembering some very specific difficult events and even more painful emotions. It used to be that fall was my favorite time of the year. But that was before my daughter’s close friend was killed in an auto accident. And before my father in law died of esophageal cancer. Memories are funny things and sometimes I really believe they have a life of their own because without warning every fall, I find myself fighting the blues. Sadness comes out of nowhere and takes on colorfully surprising shapes in the same way our leaves suddenly turn into their own riot of color from one day to the next.
Recollections Are Powerful
I’m not complaining about remembering, just contemplating how powerful our thoughts and recollections are and if we don’t take hold of them, they will surely take hold of us. I also know that the older we get, the more tough seasons we will have weathered, which in turn, creates more memories. Some good. Some, not so much.
As I pause for a few minutes and simply sit with my eyes closed and my heart wide open, I ask God for his perspective on my turbulent feelings. I’ve lived long enough to know this much…until I surrender my past, my present, and my future (memories and all) to His good will, I simply can’t move past the pain of the past. Even the best of times will sour if I cling to them too tightly. So right now, I place myself at His disposal and ask for grace to remember what needs remembering and grace to put aside what I should forget.
We Need To Learn To Remember Well
Discouragement can come upon us without warning and when it does, we’re often left wondering where on earth these dismal thoughts and feelings came from. Then we start remembering and how we choose to dredge up the past makes a huge difference in today’s days and hours. God’s Word has much to say about the epidemic of discouragement that springs from a heart that fails to remember well.
The Israelites, who should have known better after God miraculously delivered them from the clutches of the king of Egypt and his army, didn’t walk very far from their enemy’s grasp before they started getting discouraged. They whined. They moaned. They groaned. God had mercy on them time after time but He also gave them some advice. Remember. Call to mind each and every act of love and faithfulness and provision that He provided.
Remember God’s Faithfulness
Remembering. It matters. Remembering well matters equally as much. Some of our recollections can skew us toward harboring resentment, bitterness, even hatred. Other memories might simply provoke feelings of sadness or regret. Let’s not discount the power of our minds to recall both the good and bad which will influence us in significant ways today (for good or bad.)
Our God Is Always Working Good
Instead of focusing on and nurturing painful memories, let us choose to recall the good (even amidst the hard. For we are told that all things most certainly do work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose. God, our great redeemer, can and does transform even the most heart-stopping, heart-breaking season of sorrow into something blessed and eventually…beautiful.
Transforming our thoughts…it’s where we learn to identify the obstacles in our hearts and minds and implement solutions by remembering well that our God is a loving God. And that’s something He wants us to never forget.
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